Patrons pay $40 for a four-course meal served in silence

Conservation was banned Sunday in the first "silent dinner" hosted by Eat, a bistro that serves local, organic fare in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood.

Seventeen diners paid $40 for a four-course meal at the eatery.

The only rule? No talking.

"This was an idea that had been brewing for a long time," Eat managerNick Naumantold Yahoo Shine. "In my early 20s, I visited a monastery that served a silent breakfast each morning. The purpose was to teach people to focus on the taste, texture, and nutritional value of the food. When you do so, the entire eatingexperienceimproves."

One patron said it felt like "being 50 and married."

"But then it became good, the good kind of quiet," 33-year-old Bianca Alvarez told the Wall Street Journal.

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